Preserving Clothes for Baby #2 One Day!

Last week my Aunt and cousin came from Mississippi to Texas for a week long visit during their spring break. During their visit my sweet Aunt helped me do some organizing in Emerson's room, primarily his closet. One of the tasks we tackled was packing away baby clothes that no longer fit and that I would want to keep for when #2 comes along. We set aside all of the special occasion outfits, birth and first year memorabilia and focused primarily on the clothes I would pass down to a future child vs. things I am keeping set aside solely for Emerson's keepsakes. She made some really clever suggestions that I put into practice over the last week and I just had to pass them along. I honestly no longer dread going through Emerson's outgrown clothes and I feel like I have perfected preserving clothes for baby #2 one day with these simple steps!

Obviously when getting ready to store all of those sweet baby clothes, you want to make sure they're clean. I have yet to encounter a stain that the Oxi Clean gel stick can't tackle. I swear by this thing.

After you have pre-treated any stains with the miracle that is the max force gel stick, toss everything in the wash with your baby detergent of choice, I still love Dreft. It's that "new baby smell" that just makes me all warm and fuzzy!

 Now it's time to pack it in! Let's talk storage.

I highly recommend using Ziploc Big Bags. My aunt suggested this and they are really perfect for keeping the freshness IN and the potential moisture and dust OUT. One box has 4 bags in it which allows you to organize clothing by size 0-6M (this works for me because Emerson was never really in newborn clothes), 6-9M, 9-12M & 12-18M. Obviously I will need more bags as the years pass and I collect more clothes, but you get the idea!

Once all of your pieces are folded put them in their designated bags, toss in a baking soda nursery freshener to keep clothes from developing a "stale" smell and seal (available at Target in the baby section). Then label the bags with black Sharpee marker so you know exactly what's in them.

Put your sealed  and labeled bags into a storage bin, I can fit two bags to a bin... but I kept a lot of clothes, you may be able to fit all four of your bags in one container, just depends on how much you have.

Head to your computer and whip up some labels for the exterior of your storage bin. I have labels beneath the handles on both ends of the container, so that whichever way my husband puts them in the attic there is always a visible label. Mine read "Baby Boy Clothes: 0-6M & 6-9M" and "Baby Boy Clothes: 9-12M & 12-18M". 

This entire project took me one day including wash time and I really feel confident that all of my favorite baby clothes will remain in excellent condition until the time comes to bring these clothes out of storage. 

Now I am ready to tackle Emerson's special occasion clothes and memorabilia from his first year, but that's a whole other post... stay tuned!